Spot the difference: is your Griffin Survivor case a counterfeit?

Recently I had the misfortune of buying a Griffin Survivor case for an iPad mini that turned out to be a counterfeit product. The purchase was made from the Amazon UK marketplace, which is not normally known for particularly dodgy sellers, and the seller had a feedback rating in excess of 95%, which is normally a reasonable sign of trustworthiness. It’s entirely possible the seller themselves didn’t know they’d been had by their supplier, but I was suspicious from the moment I received the product.

Griffin themselves have blogged about this as their premium products are an ongoing target for counterfeiting. However, not all of their advice is useful: they suggest anyone with a big price difference from their own store is selling fakes, but I eventually got my hands on a real one (from Amazon proper, who were out of stock when I originally purchased) for less than half the price Griffin list on their UK store.

Now that I have the genuine item, here’s a quick spot the difference so you an get a better idea of whether yours is dodgy or not.

The Box

Griffin Survivor iPad Mini – Real Packaging

Unfortunately I forgot to snap a picture of the front of my fake case before sending it back for a refund, but here’s what the real thing looks like. The fake one actually didn’t look much different from this in terms of design and style, but it was different, and was dog-eared. If yours doesn’t look like this, and isn’t in pristine condition, it’s time to get suspicious.

The Barcode

Griffin Survivor iPad Mini – Real Barcode

The real thing has a properly attached barcode with the actual UPN of the product. If you type this into Google, you’ll get results for the real product.

Griffin Survivor iPad Mini – Fake Barcode

This is the only barcode sticker on the box, it isn’t even stuck on straight, and the product code X0005K99TL links to absolutely nothing on Google at the time of writing (except probably this blog, by the time you read it). As noted in the comments below, this may be an internal barcode used by Amazon’s warehouse (if you bought from a seller that uses the ‘Fulfilled by Amazon’ system), but the lack of any real barcode underneath it, or elsewhere on the box, means this box is fake.

It’s also worth noting that the fake had seal stickers with the Griffin logo on, whereas the real one didn’t. However, the fake ones weren’t even sticky enough to stay on properly – I hadn’t yet opened the box in the above photo and they were already peeling off.

The Camera Cover

Griffin Survivor iPad Mini – Real Camera Cover

This was a bit more of a giveaway. The real camera cover is properly fitted and recessed into the case. Now let’s see the fake:

Griffin Survivor iPad Mini – Fake Camera Cover

On the fake, the rubber post that holds the camera cover in place hasn’t been trimmed down. It actually squashes flat when you put the iPad in, so you could be forgiven for thinking this might still be real – but Griffin cases are a premium product. They don’t make mistakes like this.

The Screen Protector

This was the enormous, obvious flaw with the fake. The real top cover, with it’s integrated screen protector, is clear and pristine, like this:

Griffin Survivor iPad Mini – Real Screen Protector

The fake one, on the other hand, has visible bubbles and an ‘oil slick’ effect due to having a peel-off film inside. The real thing does not have a peel-off film.

Griffin Survivor iPad Mini – Fake Screen Protector

If you remove the peel-off film (which temporarily removes the bubbles) the screen protector will adhere (badly) to the iPad screen when it is fitted and cause bubbling and the oil-slick directly on the screen. Again, the Griffin screen protector does not adhere to the screen at all. Luckily, the fake peeled off relatively easily.

Have you been stung?

Get a refund. It doesn’t matter if you’ve opened the product: any reputable seller will have no problem refunding an item that is counterfeit. It’s worth remembering that small and even medium-sized sellers may well have been scammed themselves by their upstream supplier, so there’s no reason not to be calm and polite about it unless they refuse to be reasonable.

If the seller won’t play ball, contact your credit card company and discuss it with them. They will normally investigate the issue and issue a refund once they are satisfied with your claim, then they will charge back the seller in turn. This reflects badly on the seller, which is why any decent business will sooner issue a refund themselves.

Remember: the telltale signs can change!

The post was written in May of 2014. Since then, the design of genuine Griffin cases, and their packaging, will have changed. A new, genuine, box today won’t look exactly like mine. The actual case may have different markings too. Bear this in mind when making up your mind as to what’s real and what’s fake, and check your product against photos on the official Griffin website.

Had the exact same problem I mean EXACT, your website help me realize I had a fake so I called amazon reported the fake and sent it back today. I got one from best but which was full price but at least real. The barcode was like yours but different numbers and the cover was bad and the rubber was exactly like you had it. Also when I removed the cover for the camera or speaker the covers came completely off and would close right. Sucks that Amazon fulfilled items are not completely safe.

Thanks for sharing your experience. You’re correct in asserting that price difference alone is a surefire litmus test for good product vs. fake. When we wrote this up, we were thinking more about the many sites that will show our product for some enormous percentage off MSRP … a 49.99 case for a current iPad iteration is rarely legit if it’s selling as New In Box for $19.99.

It’s always interesting when our Product Dev folks return from trips to China. They bring back examples of counterfeited merch, many of which don’t even try to look as good as the fakes you showed here.

I have just ordered (hopefully a genuine) one from Amazon.co.uk, as I live in the UK (black/black version) for £24.28 after reading the comments. (A word of warning you have to watch if you choose a different colour option (from the colour name drop down on Amazon) it will take you to another seller not Amazon, even clicking on the original colour option it takes you to another seller). The Amazon order history doesn`t link to the original “Sold by Amazon EU S.a.r.L.” item, it takes you to a cheaper fake seller!!! Amazon should boot the Seller off their marketplace if reviews state Fake goods, though some buyers have given good reviews for fake items, as some don`t know any better. Griffin should contact Amazon and voice their concerns as if a Seller is making a false declaration that a fake copy is tested to US Military standards and could cause damage to an iPad. I work for a PPE certification/testing company in the UK, our labs test products for ISO standards with a view to adding the CE mark on products. There must be an importer who is bringing this rubbish in from China, boxing it up and passing it off under Griffin`s brand name, why is this not picked up at Customs or Trading Standards??? There are hundreds of iPad cases on eBay that are un-branded/generic (some good some bad), so you have a choice to buy it based on the description i.e. case for iPad, rather than a false description “Independently tested and certified to meet conditions outlined in US Department of Defense MIL-STD-810”. I personally don`t buy counterfeit products (the Griffin case is a replacemt for a very good generic case), if I spend £300 on an Ipad mini, I want the full stated protection and original manufacturer guarantee. If it wasn`t so expensive for lab time I would buy a “fake” and get one of my colleagues to run a test to MIL-STD-810 as the documentation should be easily accessible online, forward it to Amazon.

Thanks for your helpful info. I have just opened my case which I ordered through Amazon. the camera cover is definitely fake as you show in the photo. I didn’t have any peel off film on the screen cover but there are oil slicks on screen. I have taken a photo of the box, which was dog-eared, it misses out all the details down the right hand side i.e. ‘wind, rain, dust dirt’ etc do not exist on my box. If you would like a copy of the photo to display please let me know. Thanks to your brilliant photos I can clearly see that mine is a fake. It’s on its way back now….. Thankyou

I got one of the knockoffs from Amazon through a 3rd party. It all fit snug like I expected, but it produced a bubble (oil slick) under the IPad screen Researching that, I found your article on the knock offs and checked the packaging. The only difference in description of the fake was that the post under the camera flap had been leveled down. The bar code label was just like the fake pictured, except it had a different number. Thanks for the article.

The barcode on the back of the suspected fake is an Amazon label; I should still have the manufacturers barcode however. Can anyone confirm that the packaging seal containing the ‘Griffin Logo’ is definitely fake. I have received two cases this morning and I have one with clear seal and one with the logo seal.

My genuine case definitely did NOT have the logo on the seal. Some genuine ones might, however. It’s worth noting that the genuine case – bought from Amazon – did not have that barcode sticker either, but I suppose its possible those stickers might only be added to ‘Fulfilled by Amazon’ marketplace purchases (as the fake one was).

Also, a Griffin rep has also commented on the pictures above in the comments and has said this is a fake, so I don’t think we need to beat around the bush by saying “suspected” fake.

Hi. Everything re fake griffin survivor cased is for iPhone or iPad mini. I just bought a case for the iPad4 from ebay and am unsure if it’s real or fake. The books looks genuine like many others and it has a barcode etc. on the base of the box (not a sticker). It’s the Black/Turquoise colour (they call it teal!). The screen seems ok with no peel off or oily effect. The one thing it does have though is a rubber spike sticking up where the camera hole is which, from your picture, would suggest it’s fake. Is this still the case with the iPad 4 version. The box actually says it’s for New iPad and iPad 2 (i’m presuming size hasn’t changed since number 2s launch?). The barcode on the back however does say GB 35108 but when I google this it brings up the solid black version…….not a black/teal. I’m telling myself this has to be a fake but am I just being pessimistic??? Have emailed the seller saying it’s a fake and want to return it but had no reply so far!

As I said in the the article, there’s no way you’d get a mistake like that rubber spike on a a real premium product. It sounds like you’ve got one of the better fakes given the lack of bubbles on the screen, but I’m pretty sure it’s a fake nonetheless.

I am looking for a replacement Griffin survivor case as I dropped my unit on a decorative metal stand and have a long deep scratch on the screen cover. I found the amazon units and read the fake customer comments, searched and found this site. I have also found that Best Buy.com has some survivor cases from marketplace (a trusted merchant?) for much less. I am assuming these will be fakes as well. Does anyone know?

the barcode sticker which you cite as an indication of fake is an error. What you are looking at there is an FNSKU sticker. This is applied to products which are sent to amazon fulfilment centres by third party sellers to identify the product and the seller who sent it in. It isn’t a fake barcode, it just isn’t an EAN. Because FNSKU barcodes are only used in amazon’s internal systems you will not find them elsewhere. If you want to fact check this please visit the informational help page: http://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=200243200

Just to be clear, I’m only drawing attention to this as you may be leading other customers to incorrectly suppose that their genuine items are fake- I am not questioning anything else here and found this page useful otherwise.

The seller contacted me, and they are investigating, sounded very professional and I am inclined to believe they are not selling fakes, but Amazon do seem to be mixing up stocks. They wanted photos of the item, and sent me what it should look like, which are the same as your genuine and fake photos.

With my fake the box was shoddy, the seals were not too sticky and the build quality of the item was awful, it was also dirty and not the colour it should have been.

Hi have ordered the I pad mini survivor case(griffin) but wasn’t convinced that its genuine, the barcode has no part number and the plastic screen has a mask/film which needs to be removed before application, I gather the real one doesn’t have this? Can any one clarify. Purchased from amazon

I just bought a 95% perfect air fake off eBay. The only warning signs were the missing G on the home button and the glue on the screen was sticky/tacky and poorly done in some sections. Everything else was spot on.

Just received a fake ipad air survivor case from eBay . Bottom left there is a misprint tbursday instead of Thursday and the barcode description is the wrong , didn’t think it felt right now I know why

There’s no way of knowing for certain before buying – a dishonest seller could post photos of the real thing then send you a fake. All you can do for eBay sellers is read the seller reviews and make a judgement call.

Problem is I’m an International buyer and going through the whole procedure of returning a fake item is quite tedious. I was going through this sellers feedback and it seems one of the customers (who left negative feedback) said their Otterbox case was fake. I’ll see if I can find Griffin cases locally but I tend to buy most of my items from Amazon and eBay due to the extravagant markups here. For instance, an iPad Mini case that costs USD 30 to USD 35 will cost almost USD 75 to USD 100 here.

I’ve also been sent a fake (through Amazon fulfilled seller) similar to the photo posted above. I have scrutinised the text on the reverse and there is a huge typo: If you look at the labelled diagrams of each level of protection, under vibration it reads “Silicone cladding adsbrbs vibration”. The fact absorbs is not spelt properly tells me a lot.

Same thing just happened here. We opened a Christmas gift and we’re disappointed with the screen protector. Then we noticed the case didn’t have a griffin logo anywhere. After reading here, I now see the typo “Tbursday” and the barcode label is wrong. The description is for a different color and when I scan the code it is for yet another color. This was an eBay purchase from Florida.

I recently purchased the iPad mini version from UAVdepot on Amazon.com for $36. The company is small and it out of the USA. The case arrived in two days which I thought was very quick and therefore is probably did not come immediately from oversees. The only odd thing I see is in the index card sized instructions, there steps 2 and 4 are the only steps with some written instructions. Step 4 has English and Spanish instructions whereas step 1 has two sets of English instructions so there was a translation (lack of) error here. So does the genuine version have the same translation error in the instructions? The case itself does not have the flaws as described above and the package looks the same as the genuine one above. It even has the same foreign translation and green artwork as the genuine picture. If you look closely at the fake picture, the French translations are not the same and the green artwork differs.

I would like add if you see one in a color that’s not on the Griffen web site it IS fake. That’s how I learned there were fakes and found this site. I saw a cool color and thought I didn’t see that one; I would’ve loved to have that color and learned it was fake!

I just purchased two from and Ebay seller, looked good except it had the fake rubber post near the camera which had not been trimmed down.
Have contacted Griffin who via email pics confirmed it is fake.
Seller now wants me to return them so he can investigate.
He is not interested in the emails I have but wants and ‘official’ document.
Any idea how I get one, or even if I have to?

I don’t see why I should have to go to the trouble of returning them to be honest. He will only sell them on no doubt…

My advice is to deal with this through the eBay Resolution Centre (see links at the end of the article above for US and UK). eBay’s official policy on fakes is

“If a buyer suspects that an item is counterfeit and there are strong indicators that the item is counterfeit, the buyer isn’t required to return the item to the seller. The buyer agrees to cooperate with us to ensure the proper disposal of the item.”

I’m fairly sure eBay will agree that emails from Griffin confirming it as a fake counts as “strong indicators”, regardless of what the seller thinks.

I suggest you log a case with eBay and report the seller for selling counterfeit items. I’ve been through a situation where I finally convinced a seller that he was selling a fake pair of Dr. Dre Beats Headphones and he refunded my money. Other sellers are not so reasonable. Having said that, I ended up buying an original Survivor Play case from the Griffin Store using their 20% discount code and had it shipped Internationally to me.

Hi another angrytechnician in UK here… Wishing i had found this before i made a purchase… However i was semi aware of the counterfeit situation but thought i might be safe purchasing direct from Amazon UK…. and paying not that much below the retail price i would be safe…. Wrong.
I was suspicious when i saw the extended pillar on the pivot point of the camera port. The box was aso tatty and dog eared, this made me even more suspicious. The quality just didnt seem right, it felt “Different” from the one i have for my phone. The mike grille if looking from inside was stuck in askew, the screen cover didnt have a peel off cover but looked and felt flimsey, in the front panel above and below the Button there were marks in the plastic like extrusion marks i’m sure Griffin wouldnt let that go through QC.

I reported this directly to Amazon they responded positively saying they would investigate. This was quickly followed by a mail that said would i like to wait for the outcome of the investigation for a replacement or get a refund. Well obviously i wanted a case but didnt want to go all pain of getting another fake so i have opted for a refund its waiting to go back.

In the meantime i had contacted Griffin direct in the USA a really, really helpful guy called Reed helped me there, i forwarded him the picture of the pivot point. He said thats a RED flag! i asked him it there was anything else i could send him that would confirm it was a fake, he said a picture of the rear packaging and a close up of the Bar Code. It came back instant “Fake”, the barcode was not a label it was printed on the box itself, it have the GB35108-2 part number and the barcode number “85387 36580” im not sure how he knew but it was an instant “Fake”.

I’m off to a high street retailer later to potentially purchase a original one, I will report back on what transpires!

I must say 10 stars for Griffin service they could have told me to bog off! They were exceptionally helpful.

So far Amazon have been fine and there returns proceedure is normally OK

So look out for the pivot on the camera cover as a starting point, if it doesnt look like a quality item its probabaly fake it amazes me to the extent these counterfeiters will go to to make a few quid!

Update! I now have a genuine Griffin survivor for Ipad 2 etc..In fact i havnt sent the other one back to Amazon quite yet so the comparisons took place!

First the packaging:-
1. The original actually appears a little more matt in apperance
2. The sticky labels sealing the box did NOT have the G or Griffin watermark on them.
3. Compairing the 2 boxes you could see that the text on the fake was very slightly blurred (slightly fussy txt) very hard to see.

So all in all unless you have the boxes side by side you wouldnt be able to tell.

Now for the Killer punch! Reed from Griffin USA asked me to get a picture of the Barcode. Now on the fake the barcode was actually printed on the box. but the original its actually a white label!

But here it is! Now i know why he wanted the barcode picture… the barcode label is placed on the bottom RH corner of the box over the top of an area that is diagonally printed with a “Griffin” watermark so it has griffin printed numerous times in a block about 1.5 inches by 1 inch and the label is placed over the top. The printing & numbers are the same as i mentions above so they are correct.

The case itself, Miles of difference
1. The Pivots on the camera / speaker covers are trimmed plugs
2. The Mike port is covered by a grille with pinholes in the original no holes in the fake
3. Ditto for the Speaker vent it has hexagonal holes when you lift the cover in the hexagonal holes there are pinholes
4. The front screen at the bottom by the catches internally it has a manufacture “date disk” like a little clock stamped in the plastic that indicates the date of production. Also the adheasive around the screen plastic is flat and uniform on the original, on the fake its looks air bubbley and silverish. The original is shiney bezel but the fake is much flatter in sheen. The original had no pull off screen protector nor did the fake (some have).
5. All the ports fit very nice and snug the fake is rubbish by comparison.
6. The outer material of the case is a slightly different texture on the fake and side by side the original is darker with a higher sheen on the plastic parts. The finger tabs and buttons are much more defined and clear cut on the original.
7. The internal plastic structure is a much glossier case than the fake.

Anyhow there is more but thats the most significant.

I purchased mine at Mankind sale on now
also Dabs the PC company are selling them and so are Misco

I have pictures if anyone would like them or i can send them to Mr Angry! just ask

Thank you Steve Rickman for everything you wrote. I would like to receive /see all the photos you’ve taken regarding this Fake vs Genuine. I’ve just bought an confirmed fake Griffin Survivor Ipad Air. If anyone wants to see photos of the fake one them just let me know.

Ordered a new all black Griffin Survivor iPad air case (GB36307) yesterday from Amazon (UK), delivered today and it looks like a fake. What’s worrying is that this was sold & dispatched directly from Amazon AND NOT a marketplace seller.

Anyway, packaging arrived rather beat up, on the back it had a bar-code sticker over top of a printed bar-code when peeled back part of it says GB35786-CAMO-BLACK. As previously mentioned Thursday is spelt Tbursday, In the UK address on the bottom of the box Management is spelt Menagement. On the front it says “FOR POUR iPad Air” in white, then “new iPad” in green (isn’t the new iPad bigger so how would it fit?). The folded manual supplied in the case looks like a poor scan, over contrast so illustrations can barley be made out. Regards the case itself, it doesn’t look that bad everything seems to check out, griffin logo on home button, camera port cut correctly, decent fit (however silicon does seem a little thin around the clips) etc, until you put the iPad in it and get the oil effect all over the screen. Notified Amazon by the automated system (said was damaged and questioned authenticity) and already been refunded (good news) but still have to return it within 30 days so they don’t charge me again.

Overall, disappointed :( … Resourced another here in the UK through Argos £44.99 (cheaper than the alternative of going Griffin direct £59.99) which hopefully will prove to be a real one … fingers crossed for when I pick it up this weekend.

Aw damn. Got one in red for my iPod Touch 5… box looks genuine, has a sticker with valid barcode, but display had a removable foil inside and now shows rainbow areas after removing it. The nob thingy from the camera cover is long/untrimmed. I’m not sure what to do, since we ripped the packaging apart just this evening in a way that we can’t return it in resellable condition… It cost 30 Euro, so wasn’t remarkably cheaper, but arrived in an envelope from Hong Kong (Marketplace seller). I can probably assume it is a well made copy? The barcode makes me unsure, but the display sucks… I initially thought it was my fault because I removed the display foil on the inside.

Thank you Maverick^. Purchased Survivor for iPhone 5 on Amazon and right out of box, screen protector was very scratched, and has a big oil slick. Couldn’t find any typos til I checked the bottom of box to see “Menagement” as you wrote. I can’t believe I somehow missed reading reviews before I purchased this or I’d have seen a high percentage of complaints about fakes from this seller on this item. I should have realized the discount was too deep but just thought it was a discontinued color or model.

Thanks for this information. I recently purchased a Griffin survivor case and according to the information you provided, everything looks genuine. However, the screen is very very scratched up and although there was no moisture on the clear screen cover, a few moisture spots (small) are under the screen after putting it on my iPad. Also, the one part of the case that snaps on the iPad keeps coming lose. Could it be that it’s now on correctly? Or may this possibly be a fake? I’m a little paranoid about this.

I recently purchased the Griffin Survivor case after reading and checking the reviews to prevent from buying a fake one. However, I followed the advice given and check the things stated to look closely at. No issues with packaging, barcode info was original and was able to scan, and it fit as it should. The one issue was still the screen protector was scratched up and little moisture inside but not in a major way as describe on the pictures. Now my scree protector is not very clear and has scratches all over it and white spots that won’t come off.

I have this case for both my iPad mini and iPad 2. I’ve had both for over a year at least. The mini seems to be loosing the elasticity on the back, so it feels odd when holding it, which I googled and found this post. The full size case has the oily bubbly look since day 1. Now I’m thinking both of them may be fake. I don’t think I kept either of the boxes to check the other tells. Both were purchased on amazon canada, although I have no idea if these were amazon or marketplace. Feeling duped.

I have just purchased two cases from ebay and I now definately believe they are fake. I already have a genuine one but wanted one for my son. I have emailed the seller and they told me they are 100% genuine. I am now going to email them to ask for a refund. Wish me luck.

Purchased mine for iPad 4 from ebay. Rubber feet on the stand came off in the first 40 seconds. Stand fell off and missing in first 4 hours. No protector for screen cover. Scratched screen protector. No bubble effect. Untrimmed camera cover. No “Survivor” on back of the case across one of the hard plastic diamond shapes. Box was very good. Except the wording on the bottom flap of the box. Super small writing but took zoomed pic and discovered had 5 spelling mistakes.

Seller took too long to respond so posted fake feedback. sent him pics and filed case with eBay. Seller responded confirming bottom flap wording on box was a giveaway and that he’d have to speak to his supplier. Seller refunded full price and asked for return of item and promised to pay for return postage as well.

Seller responded to my fake feedback claiming genuine item.

Wonder how many of these fakes are successfully sold were buyer either doesn’t realise or knows and doesn’t care or knows and can’t be bothered.

I recently picked up this protector from Amazon and it looked great! But has the weird rubber stick by the camera window. And then my kid spilled a small amount of water on it and it just leaked right into the ipad!!!! So thus my searching and found your site. I wish I kept the packaging. I also get a small oil slick on the screen.

Just got a counterfeit case, I know because there are mispellings on the back of the packaging. It says, I quote: “We,re here 9am-6pm Monday-Thuraday (CST) 9am-5pm Friday (CST).” Griffin would not make mistakes like that. Returning!

I bought a cheap Griffin IPhone 4s survivor cover in Dublin at the weekend. The dead give away that it is fake is that I cannot scroll the screen up to access the menu for the flashlight, screen lock menu etc. Still though for €15 I have a better protected phone 😃

Sorry, this was really helpful, but that so-called “genuine” case was actually a fake. The proof is the “G”. That is not on the real survivor case. On a real survivor case, the word “survivor” is written on the lower part of the hard case. Unlike these pictures, the LETTER G is written on the top half. But this case that you showed is relatively a good counterfeit.

That may be true now, but back in May of 2014 when this post was written, the design of the iPad Mini case matched the full-size Griffin case (G at the top, no SURVIVOR lettering). We checked against the official product photos on the Griffin website at the time. Those have now been updated with the new design.